Hoe Poppies Gemaak Is / How Dolls Were Made

Do you have any idea where I found and photographed these sweet vintage antique poppets?Hand-stitched together with scraps, to keep little people amused.  

Alongside them is an example of how there bodies were formed, from materials that were close at hand.

 

These little people don't live in my usual stomping ground.  Earlier this month, we went to visit my son in Gauteng.  We took a day trip to Pretoria - my city of birth.  On the way there we stopped off at The Voortrekker Monument.  [If you had told me that I was going to be spending a few hours of my precious weekend there, I would not have sounded thrilled.]
But we had an amazing time.
I enjoyed understanding more of the way of life of these pioneers, and in particular - their handwork and craft.
How delightful are these museum dolls from the early to mid 1800s?  
I'll be sharing a little more of Trekker craft in the next few days. 

Concertina Shells...

These are the interesting leftovers from an enormous project we have just completed.

Christy, Sandile, Hlengiwe and myself have sourced, sliced, folded and strung together hundreds of folded books for the Shaw Sisters, who are supplying a nation-wide chain store in South Africa.
So...when you are at the mall - please be on the look out for this coming-soon literate installation, and let me know when and where you've seen it. - and send us a pic too.  Thanks♥
A special thanks to the Highway Hospice Charity Shop for supplying us with books to recycle and to Isla Designs for your contribution too!

FOUND! Tropical Tapestry Parrot

This pretty polly was a stray from the SPCA.  I knew I could give her a happy place to stay, so took her home with me, and set her free from the mouldy frame she was trapped in.  

She brightens a corner of my living room now.  I can leave her cage door open and don't have to clip her wings, clean the cage or give her food and water.  The perfect pet! 

She was not quite what you would call refined. 
She was not quite what you would call unrefined. 

She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot

Mark Twain

Birdcage previously

Sketches of Durban Harbour and its Surrounds

Have you heard of Cathcart William Methven before?  I've  just learnt that he was an amazing chap.  These delightful sketches of Durban and its Harbour are only one of his many achievements.

 

The envelope that houses these postcard reproductions states that he was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and  Engineer in Chief of the Natal Harbour Board. 

Not only was he an engineer and a sketcher, but he was a musician, and a landscape artist too.  He was the founder of the Durban Art Gallery.  He also surveyed all the harbours on the the south east and southern coastline of South Africa.

It seems that he was one of the guys us average people love to hate.  He did a zillion things and did them all well.

He was also an accomplished architect and a founder of the Natal Institutes of Architects.     

This set of postcards is for sale in the online store. They were published by the Philatelic Society in 1983. 

"When appointed Durban's harbour engineer in 1888, his orders were to remove a sandbar obstructing shipping at the harbour entrance, forcing passengers and cargo to be moved by lighter. Methven's plans to get rid of the bar by extending the North Pier and using the scouring action of tidal currents, brought him into conflict with a prominent lawyer, Attorney General and politician, Harry Escombe, who wanted to rely on dredging alone. Consequently Methven was dismissed on 11 July 1894. This led to a tremendous uproar ending in Escombe's resignation. Much later, in 1918, the South African government granted him £500 in recognition of his services with development of the harbour. His other recommendation that the Umhlatuzi Lagoon be developed as a second harbour for Natal, was also followed in the 1970s and is now known as Richards Bay." Wikipaedia

 

Source

Thank You Thank You!

Big thank yous to some talented locals for coverage of the I Love Pop-Up-Shop at artSPACE in Durban. I am so delighted with the way they have captured our Freshly Found Products♥ (Click on the links to see the work of the other amazing exhibitors.) 

Gorgeous pic by Illustrator and Designer Fathima of Happines is...

Another Happiness Is... perspective

Lauren of Glossary and her camera made this beetroot dyed bloom sing

Lovely and light pic by Glossary

Creative Business guru Nadia vander Mescht has published a comprehensive article on Gen Motley's curated space too.
More info and visuals on the artSpace website and Facebook Page.

Book Shelving

Barrel Roll Folded books stacked into shelving.  The print stripes and gentle folds form a pleasing rhythmic backdrop to some quirky collectibles.

 

The delicate book rolls are surprisingly stable and can be stacked in many combinations.  Here we filled a corner, creating an interesting wall covering and lots of display space. 

 

This is an ideal budget treatment that can be erected easily and moved or rearranged if needed, and eventually completely recycled.

See the Freshly Found book folding tutorial for instructions on making the rolls.

Basic Barrel Roll - Book Fold Tutorial

In response to loads of interest, we will be posting some tutorials on the art of book folding or Bibliogami.  It has become a very popular craft and Freshly Found has been folding books for years.  We are in the middle of an enormous order right now, so thought it would be a good idea to document some of the techniques we use. 

One of the simplest folds is the barrel roll  Start with a paperback that has a flexible glued spine. Choose a book of 200 - 250 pages.[100-125 actual sheets of paper].  Remove the outside cover.
Lay the book down flat and count 5 pages.  Roll the pages towards the spine.

Tuck them in as close to the spine as possible, then repeat with the next 5 pages and so on.  Always work in the same direction.